battey



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. B. BATTEY. AERIALMAGHINE.

Patenfied July 25 A 7TOHNEYJ 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

. S. B. BATTEY.

AERIAL MACHINE. No. 502,168.

Patented July 25, 1893.

INVENTOI? wrun- (No Model.)

. 8 Sheets-Sheet 3.. S. B. BATTEY.

. AERIAL MACHINE. No. 502,168; I Patented July 25, 1893.

ATTOH/VEYs UNITED STATES PATENT ()F IcE.

SUMTER-B. BATTEY, on NEW YORK, N.

AERIAL MACHINE.

anon-rumor! forming part or Letters ram No. wanes, man Jul as, 1898.

' Application filed August 26. 1892. Serial No- 4 L4,183- (Io model-l 1b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SnmmR'B. BA'I'IEY, .of

the city, county,and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Aerial Machine,

of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description. I

The object of the invention is to provide a new and, improved aerial machine which is extremely simple and durable in construction, arranged to be propelled at a high rate of speed and adapted to be easily steeredin any desired direction.

The invention consistsof certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will the same.

he hereinafter described and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forminga part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figural is a perspective view of the im- Fig. .3 is a side elevation of the same with parts in section. Fig. 4 is a rear end view of Fig. 5-is a transverse section of the same on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of propeller.

The improved aerial machine is provided with a balloon A, having a shell B preferably made in the shape of a double cone with the bases united, as plainly shown in the drawings. This shell B is preferably made of light sheet metal,such as aluminum and is strengthened inside by a suitable framework 0, preferably composed of vertical and transversely disposed braces, as indicated in Fig. 2. The balloon A supports, at its under side ator near the middle, a carer basket D provided in its sides and front end with windowmthe said car being sufliciently large to accommodate navigators, passengers, freight, &c. In order to render the balloon buoyant in the air, I preferably exhaust the airin the shell B through a valved pipe E, held in the said shell and adapted to be connected with a suitable exhausting device for exhausting air from the shell at the time the latter is filled with gas. A second valved pipe E is also arranged on the shell and is adapted to be connected with a suitable source of gas supply to permit of filling the shell B with a suitablegas, such as hydrogen. The shell of Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

the balloon being filled with gas, is sufllcleutly" buoyant, so that it requires but little power to propel the balloon forward, or to steerthe same in any desired direction. I

In order to propel the machine I provide the following apparatus: On the rear end of the shell A is secured a bar Fon which is pivoted an arm G, mounted to swing transversely 6c a forward motion of the balloon A and the car D supported thereon. The pellets H of nitro -glycerine or other suitable explosive-material, can be fed into the holder of the said' propeller G by any suitable device, but I prefer the apparatus illustrated in the drawings and presently to be described. This feeding device is provided with a magazine feed pipe I, vertically disposed and slightly curved at its lower end, the said pipe being filled with pellets and opening at its lower end into a cylinder J, extending in and supported from the holder G at or near the top thereof. In this cylinder J is mounted to slide a piston J formed with a recess for receivinga single pelletat a time from the pipe I. At thedownward stroke this piston J carries a pellet downward to finally drop the pellet out of the casing J into the cup G2 to be exploded therein. Any suitable mechanism may beemployed to impart the necessary sliding motion to the piston J so as to move a single pellet aha ti me into-the. cup-shaped propeller, but I prefer a clockwork K of any approved construction, and connected with the said piston J to deliver a pellet at regular intervals to the holder G of the propeller G. After the pellet leaves the cylinder-J it drops into a receiver L pivoted within the holder G and mounted yieldingly on a spring L so thatthe force of the explosion ofthe pellet does not injure the receiver L. The pellet discharged into the receiver L is fired by electricity and for this purpose, the said cup is connected by electric wires N with a battery 0 under the that the electric charge will ignite the pelletand an explosion will take lace, the reaction of the explosion in the p 'opellerG causing a for ward motion of the aerial machine,

The propeller G also acts as a rudder and serves for steering the balloon sidewise, and for this purpose theholder'Gr of the propeller is connected at opposite sides with cords or ropes I and P passing over pulleys P journaled on suitable brackets extending from the bar F. The ropes P and P extend from the pulleys P downwardly, and pass into the car D at the rearend thereof, the inner ends of the said ropes passing over pulleys P, and being connected with the ends of a sprocket chain P1 passing around a sprocket wheel P secured on a vertically disposed shaft I? mounted to turn in suitable bearings within the car D. On the upper end of the shaft P is secured a bevel gear wheel P in mesh with a bevel gear wheel I, fastened on a shaft carrying a'hand wheel P under the control of the operator within the car, so that on turning the said hand wheel, a rotary motion is imparted to the shaft P Joy means of the gear wheels I and P and the motion of the shaft 1 causes a traveling of the chain P by the sprocket wheel P, so that a pull is exerted on onev of the ropes P or P, according to the direction in which the hand wheel P is turned. This pull on the rope P or 1" causes a swing ing of the arm G and the propeller G to one side, so that the propeller acts as a rudder and the balloon is caused to travel in the same direction.

In order to permit an ascent and descent of the aerial machine, I provide two steering wings Q and Q, located on opposite sides of the shell ll and pivoted on studs Q projecting from the sides of the shell B at or near the middle thereof. The ends of the steering wings Q are connected with ropes or chains R and R, and similar ropes R and R are connected with the ends of the other wing Q. The ropes extend downwardly and through the ends of the car into the latter, to pass under pulleys S, as shown in Fig. 3, the ends of the ropes R and B being connected with each other by a sprocket chain R and a similar sprocket chain R connects the other ropes R and R with each other. The two sprocket chains R, and pass over the sprocket wheels '1 and 'l" respectively, secured on a transversely extending shaft 'l journaled in suitable bearings within the car D. On-th"e shaft '1 is secured a lever U provided with a hand levcr U adapted to engage a notch of a series of notches formed on a segment V, arranged concentric with the shaft '1 and supported on a suitable bracket attached to th bottom of the car I). This device serves to lock the wings Q, Q, in any dosircd position, either horizontally or inclined for the ascent or descent of the machine.

It will be seen that by disengaging the hand lever U from the respective notch on the segment V, the lever U can be moved forward orbackward so as to turn the shaft '1", theme-- tion of the latter being imparted to the sprocket wheels T and '1 which thus impart a forward or backward traveling motion to the sprocket chains R and R5, according to the direction in which the levee U is moved. By moving the lever U forward, the wings Q and Q are swung'upward at their forward ends and downward at their rear ends, for the ascent of the aerial machine, and when a rearward movement of the lever U is made, the wings Q and Q are caused to swing from their normal horizontal positions into an inclined position with the front ends downward and the rear ends upward, for the descent of the aerial machine. Thus, it will be seen that the aerial machine can be readily steered in any desireddireetion by the action of the steering wings Q and Q, and the sidewise swinging motion of the propeller G. The devices for steering, as well as for causing the explosions, are fully under the control of the operator located within the car-D.

I do not limit myself to any particular construction of mechanism for accomplishing the latter result, the main features being that pellets are exploded in a suitable cup or other vessel, so that the reaction of the explosion propels or drives the machine forward.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claimasnew anddesire to secure byLettcrs Patent D 1. An aerial machine provided with a propeller comprising a cup-shaped holder pivoted on the rear end of the balloon and adapt-- ed to swing sidewise, a feed pipe secured on the said holder and containing explosive pellets,'a feeding device connected with thelower end of said feed pipe to feed one pellet at a time from the pipe into the cup shaped holder, and a pellet receiver mounted yieldingly in the said holder, substantially as shown and described.

2. An aerial machine, provided with a propeller having a holder, and an explosive receiver mounted yieldinglyiu the said holder, substantially as shown and described.

3. An aerial machine provided with a propellingmcchanisin comprising a holder, a feed pipe for containing the explosives and connected with the said holder, an automatic delivery device for discharging the explosives one at a time from the pipe into the said holder, an igniting device for firing the explosive after its delivery to the holder, and a .yieldingly mounted receiver arranged in the said holder and adapted to support the explosive for firing the same, substantially as shown and described.

SUM'Pl lR ll. llA'P'llCY.

NVilnesses:

E. M. CLARK, EDGAR TATE. 

